Referral Program Engine

A Claude Code skill for designing, implementing, and optimizing referral and affiliate programs that turn existing customers into growth engines. Covers program structure, incentive design, viral loop mechanics, fraud prevention, and performance analytics.

When to Use This Skill

Choose Referral Program Engine when:

• You want to launch a customer referral or affiliate program
• You need to optimize an existing program's participation and conversion rates
• You want to design viral loop mechanics for product-led growth
• You need to choose between referral, affiliate, or ambassador models
• You're building incentive structures that drive sustainable growth

Consider alternatives when:

• You need general marketing strategy (use a marketing strategy skill)
• You want paid advertising optimization (use a paid platform skill)
• You need product-led growth mechanics beyond referrals (use a PLG skill)

Quick Start

Copy
# Install the skill
claude install referral-program-engine

# Design a referral program
claude "Design a double-sided referral program for a B2B SaaS tool with $49/month pricing"

# Optimize existing program
claude "Our referral program has 5% participation and 10% conversion. How do I improve both metrics?"

# Choose the right model
claude "Should I build a referral program, an affiliate program, or both for my developer tools platform?"

Core Concepts

Program Types

Type	Participants	Incentive Flow	Best For
Referral	Existing customers	Refer friend → both get reward	B2C, PLG products
Affiliate	Content creators, influencers	Drive signups → earn commission	Wide reach, content-heavy
Ambassador	Power users, community leaders	Ongoing advocacy → tiered rewards	Community-driven products
Partner	Complementary businesses	Co-sell → revenue share	B2B, enterprise

Incentive Design

Double-Sided Rewards (highest participation):
  Referrer: Gets $20 credit per successful referral
  Referred: Gets 30-day free trial extension or discount

Tiered Rewards (sustained engagement):
  1-5 referrals: $10 credit each
  6-20 referrals: $25 credit each
  21+ referrals: $50 credit each + swag

Commission-Based (affiliate/partner):
  First purchase: 20-30% commission
  Recurring: 10-15% for 12 months
  Milestone bonuses: $100 at 25 referrals, $500 at 100

Viral Loop Mechanics

Component	Description	Optimization Lever
Trigger	When the referral prompt appears	Timing after value moment
Share Mechanism	How users share their referral link	Pre-written messages, one-click share
Landing Experience	What the referred user sees	Personalized welcome, trust signals
Reward Delivery	How and when incentives are given	Instant delivery, clear progress
Loop Closure	Getting referred users to refer others	Onboarding that leads to sharing

Configuration

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
program_type	string	"referral"	Type: referral, affiliate, ambassador, partner
reward_model	string	"double_sided"	Model: double_sided, single_sided, tiered, commission
reward_value	number	20	Base reward value in USD or equivalent
attribution_window	number	30	Days to attribute a referral conversion
fraud_detection	boolean	true	Enable fraud detection rules

Best Practices

1. Make sharing feel natural — The best referral prompts appear right after a user achieves something meaningful with your product. "You just saved 5 hours this week — share this with a colleague who could benefit too" works better than a random popup.

2. Double-sided rewards outperform single-sided — When both the referrer and referred person benefit, participation rates increase 2-3x. The referred person has a clear reason to sign up, and the referrer feels less awkward sharing.

3. Reduce sharing friction to one click — Pre-populate share messages, generate unique referral links, and offer multiple sharing channels (email, Slack, Twitter, copy link). Every additional step loses 50% of potential sharers.

4. Prevent fraud from day one — Self-referrals, fake accounts, and referral rings will appear immediately. Implement basic rules: no same-IP referrals, require email verification, delay reward until the referred user completes a qualifying action.

5. Track the full funnel — Monitor shares → clicks → signups → activations → conversions at every stage. A high share rate with low click rate means your share message needs work. High clicks with low signups means the landing experience needs improvement.

Common Issues

Low participation rate — Most users don't know the referral program exists. Surface it in the product at natural moments (after a positive experience), in transactional emails, and in the user dashboard. Make the reward compelling enough to motivate action.

Referrals sign up but don't activate — The referral landing page may set wrong expectations, or the onboarding isn't tailored for referred users. Add a personalized welcome ("Sarah invited you") and fast-track them to value.

Fraud is eating the budget — Implement holdback periods (30-60 days before paying commissions), require qualifying actions beyond signup, and monitor for patterns like multiple referrals from the same IP or email domain.